Food tray rack



March 25, 1952 v. LlPARl 'FOOD TRAY RACK Filed May 20, 1949 I v w m 1 ,4 Aw Y I II (\MII I. G

............ xlgwi I v p Wu -l mm w NW .v N m e mr m N T G A 4 N I w /I Lg Y 7 B I m III I 4 2 Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOOD TRAY RACK Vincent Lipari, Detroit, Mich.

Application May 20, 1949, Serial No. 94,429

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a food tray rack and is adapted to provide a support or container in which food trays may be mounted so that they are easily accessible to the user. The food trays referred to are dish-like trays generally formed from paper and in which various items such as butter, lard, cottage cheese, and the like aredispens'ed by a grocer or butcher.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a. rack of this class which will be simple in structure, economical of manufacture, durable, light, and highly efficient in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a supporting tray of this class so arrange'd that the bottom thereof may swing downwardly to permit easy removal of a tray from the bottom of the stack contained or supported on the rack.

It is another object of the invention to provide a rack of this class so arranged and constructed that it is compact and will occupy a minimum amount of space.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

It is recognized that variations and modifications may be made in the detail of structure i1- lustrated, the drawings presented herewith showing the preferred form.

Forming a part of this specification are draw ings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tray.

As shown in the drawings, the invention comprises a top I having the downwardly projecting flanges 8 and 9 at the front and rear respectively. This top is mounted on the upper ends of the side walls [0 and H, the rear wall I2, and the front walls l3 and 14, these front walls l3 and I4 being spaced apart at their opposed edges to provide the space IS. The bottom [6 is swingably mounted by the hinges I! on the lower end of the rear and side walls. It will be noted that this bottom 16 terminates inwardly from the front face of the structure so that the bottom I6 is of less depth than the top I. At the sides of the structure the top 1 projects outwardly beyond the side walls to provide the outwardly projecting flanges l8, in which are formed the openings [9 through which fastening means may be extended to fasten the structure to the bottom of a counter or the like. The flanges 8 and 9 also extend outwardly beyond the side walls, and the flanges 9 are provided with an opening 20 in which one end of a coil spring 2| is hooked, the opposite end being hooked in an opening 23 formed in a bar 22 mounted on the bottom of the bottom I6.

In use, the trays 24 would be positioned on the bottom in nested relation, as shown in Fig. 1 in dotted lines, and when desired to use one of these trays, the user would seize the edge of the lowermost and pull it downwardly, the bottom l6 swinging downwardly against the tension of the spring 2! to permit the removal of the tray and immediately after its removal swinging upwardly into closed position to support the remaining trays. The space [5 permits the user to know at all times how many trays are left in the rack. A

structure of this type has proven most efficient in use, as it prevents the trays becoming dirtied or damaged, while at the same time they are easily accessible for use when desired.

What I claim as new is:

A device of the class described, comprising a top; oppositely disposed side walls; a back connecting said side walls, said top being secured to said back and said side walls; a front wall projecting inwardly from each of said side walls, said front Walls being spaced apart at opposed edges to provide an open space; a depending flange on the front and the rear of said top, said top projecting outwardly beyond each of said side walls to provide a side flange; a forwardly extended bottom hingedly connected at its rear edge to the lower edge of said back and swingable downwardly from said side walls and said front walls and adapted for supporting a stack of articles positioned thereon, said bottom terminating rearwardly of, in spaced relation to, the location of said front wall; a bar mounted on the under surface of said bottom and projecting outwardly therefrom at opposite sides thereof; and a pair of springs, each of said springs being connected at one end to one end of said bar and at its opposite end to the depending flange of said top.

VINCENT LIPARI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,919,605 Swallow July 25, 1939 2,289,099 Buttermann July 7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 98,131 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1923 387,073 France Apr. 21, 1908 

